OnFire Read online

  On Fire

  Berengaria Brown

  Some fire drills lead to flames.

  Blair, Alex and Kurt meet while walking down twenty flights of stairs during an office fire drill. The building may not be burning, but they are for each other. They end up soaking their aching muscles in Kurt’s hot tub—and taking care of some other aches. A wild night of ménage sex leaves them wanting to form a lasting relationship. But once back at work in their normal everyday lives with no drama and no fire, is romance possible?

  Inside Scoop: As Alex says, “I’m bi and versatile.” He’s hoping Kurt is the same.

  A Romantica® contemporary menage erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave

  On Fire

  Berengaria Brown

  Prologue

  Kurt pounded into a woman, her lush, ripe curves welcoming him and her thighs and hips lifting onto his every stroke. Her cunt gripped his dick so hard he wondered if she’d snap it off. But it was the best kind of grip. One that would have him exploding harder than he’d come in a very long time.

  She lay on her back on his new blue sheets. He knelt over her, holding her up off the bed, his hands under her ass, thrusting deep, pounding hard, his cock snug in her hot, wet grip.

  And then…

  A big man, muscled and fit, leaned over him. The man’s cock pistoned into Kurt’s ass in time with Kurt’s own thrusts into the woman.

  Faster, harder, deeper, he and the man pounded away, until Kurt came with a roar, his cum shooting deep into the woman.

  Kurt woke up, his hand on his dick and his seed all over his hand and belly. No woman, no man. But the dream had been so vivid. He closed his eyes, concentrating on remembering the woman. She had been indistinct but he had no memory of long hair spread on his blue pillows and those delightful curves were familiar. So a woman with short hair, someone he’d met but likely not fucked already. He was pretty sure he’d never seen her naked.

  Blair’s face swam into his mind. Her neat cap of brown hair, her curves. Aha. His subconscious was telling him to pursue Blair. Well she was certainly a mighty tasty dish. He was good with that plan. But who was the man? She had no significant other, he knew that. He was careful never to chat up people who were partnered.

  Kurt focused harder on the muscled figure in his dream but got nothing more than the sense of a big, powerful man with… Wait… He was blond. The person reaming his ass so well had been blond.

  Tomorrow. Tomorrow I’ll wait in the lunchroom until Blair appears.

  Chapter One

  Alex sat at his desk, idly chewing the straw from his morning soda, staring blindly at his computer. God, I hate this job. I know there’re hundreds of people who’d give anything to have a job, any job, but it’s killing me sitting here day after day, dealing with obnoxious management and idiotic coworkers. I’ve got to find a better position before my spirit is totally destroyed by this fucking awful place.

  He took his flash drive out of his pocket, plugged it into the computer and brought up the results of his latest search of the job vacancy sites. A couple of jobs were possibilities but nothing really grabbed him. Sighing, Alex ran his hands through his short blond hair, tugging on it deliberately to keep his brain awake. Maybe… Nah…

  Alex sighed again and reached for his flash drive, only to be startled by a siren going off above his head. After three or four long blasts a mechanical voice said, “Fire drill. Fire drill. This is a fire drill. All occupants of the building must immediately proceed to the stairs. Assemble at City Park and register your name. Do not bring any personal possessions. Do not log off your computer. Do not use the elevators. Leave now.”

  The siren blasted three more times and the message was repeated.

  Alex ignored one part of the instructions, quickly grabbed his flash drive and dropped it into his pocket. He stood up and looked around the large, open-plan office space. The last of his coworkers were leaving their work stations and heading for the stairs.

  The siren blasted yet again and the mechanical voice said, “Health and safety officers, check that your floor has been vacated and leave now.”

  Alex shrugged, heading for the stairwell. Well I guess it’ll be an hour off work. Though likely just as boring.

  Alex seemed to be the last one leaving from his office. He stopped and looked around carefully. He had no idea who the health and safety officer was for his floor but he didn’t see anyone still there, or anyone checking to see that the work stations had been vacated.

  It’s going to be a damn long walk down twenty-two flights of stairs. Guess I’ll find out how fit I really am. He grinned. Hey, being paid to exercise. The day is looking brighter!

  By the time he pushed the fire door open and started down the stairs there was no one in sight, but he could hear a lot of chatter from other people in the stairwell. Then, coming down the stairs from the flight above him, he heard the clatter of footsteps and a female voice swearing up a storm. Fascinated by her colorful use of language, Alex stopped and looked up the stairs.

  Just coming into view were a pair of extremely tall black stilettos, rounded peep-toes with red toenail polish on the toes inside them, neat, trim ankles and long, silky black pants.

  “Hellfire and fucking damnation. Just show me the motherfucking idiot who planned this drill today and so help me, I’ll tear him limb from limb,” the exasperated voice was saying as the shoes descended.

  Alex’s grin grew wider. He had no idea who she was but already he was looking forward to meeting her. She had awesome taste in shoes and a smart mouth. He’d always been attracted to smart-mouthed women. Besides, rounded hips, a neat waist and a soft lilac shirt were now coming into view, and he liked a woman with soft curves and a lush ass and breasts. When he had male partners he liked them hard with taut muscles. Female partners, he liked cuddly and curvy. The contrasts made the sex much more interesting.

  Oh, nice tits! Alex’s cock stood up as the rest of the woman came into view. Rounded globes with pert nipples enhanced the shape of her lilac shirt. She had big, hazel eyes and short brown hair shaped around her face in a manner he knew was trendy. When she saw him standing there, leaning against the wall, she blushed the prettiest shade of red and stopped talking.

  “What’s the problem?” he asked, knowing his amusement was clear in his voice.

  “New shoes,” she replied, coming down the next half-dozen steps toward him.

  “Yeah, I saw them. Very sexy. And?”

  She looked at him in surprise. “How the fucking hell am I supposed to walk down twenty-three flights of stairs in these shoes?” She lifted one leg and waved the shoe at him.

  “So take them off,” he suggested.

  “Are you stupid? These are five-hundred-dollar shoes. I’ve got another billion stairs to walk down. How am I supposed to hold the handrail and carry them without damaging them? If I don’t scratch them on the wall, they’ll get scraped against each other as I hold them.”

  “Why do you have to hold the handrail?” Now Alex was confused.

  “I’m not even sure I can walk down that many stairs holding the handrail. I know I won’t make it if I don’t hold on.”

  “Oh okay, I see. How about this? You tell me how to hold the shoes and I’ll carry them for you. That way you can hold the handrail.”

  “Would you do that? Really?”

  The smile she gave him lit up her entire face like a neon light. She was stunningly beautiful when she smiled. His cock bounced up and down behind his zipper and almost begged him to grab the woman and kiss her. Unfortunately the only thing he could grab was her shoes. Damn shame he wasn’t a foot fetishist. “Of course. Just show me how to hold them.”

  “Your jacket pockets look deep enough. Here.” She handed him a shoe. “Put it toe first into
your pocket and let me check.”

  Bemused, he did as she asked. The shoe slid in neatly, leaving only the stiletto heel hanging out.

  “Perfect,” she said, handing him the other shoe. “Put this in your other pocket.”

  Carefully he placed the second shoe in his other pocket then took her hand gently. “We’d best hurry. We’re a long way behind the other people from my floor and we don’t want to get yelled at.”

  “Without the shoes I’ll be good for a dozen or so flights. After that I’m not so sure. Thank God I’m not wearing a skirt today.”

  Alex let her set the pace, holding her hand to keep her balanced. She rested her other hand on the handrail and they moved quickly down several flights of stairs until they could hear people ahead of them once again. She didn’t slow her speed and they caught up with a few people one flight lower.

  A couple of middle-aged men were sitting on the stairs, resting. One of them looked a little gray in the face and Alex hoped the man wasn’t about to have a heart attack.

  “Are you okay?” Alex asked.

  The non-gray-faced man held up a phone. “No cell phone signal here. I’ll wait with Bob until he’s ready to walk some more.”

  Alex pulled out his cell phone and checked. “I don’t have any signal either. When we get to the lobby I’ll tell them you’re here. What floor are you men from?”

  The gray-faced man replied, “Twenty-three. I’m surprised I got this far. My doctor has been telling me I need to exercise more but I don’t think he meant me to try this.”

  “Likely someone will come looking for us soon. I bet they expected us to have gotten down to the ground by now,” said the woman whose name Alex still didn’t know.

  “Better keep moving,” said Alex.

  He nodded to the men, carefully stepped around them, and headed on down again.

  After another flight the woman said quietly, “That Bob didn’t look too good to me.”

  “At least he had the sense to sit down and his friend is with him. Still, each time we stop I’ll check for a signal until we can reach a paramedic.”

  “I can go a bit faster. Let’s speed up,” she replied.

  “What’s your name? I’m Alex.”

  “Blair.”

  “You must be from the twenty-fourth floor then, since you didn’t recognize them and they’re from twenty-three.”

  “Yeah just my luck to be on the top floor for a fire drill. I’m Drew Taggart’s administrative assistant. What do you do, Alex?”

  “Scheduling. I’m on twenty-two.”

  For the next half-dozen flights they talked about their daily lives and work. But her pace was slowing and Alex was just about to suggest they stop for a few minutes when they heard voices once again. In unspoken agreement they moved a little faster and one flight down came upon a group of people sitting on the stairs.

  “Welcome to muscle spasm central,” an older woman said, smiling at them.

  “I don’t care what the announcement said. I’m not walking another step,” said a man lying sprawled across the stairs, presumably in answer to a comment Alex hadn’t heard.

  “But our names won’t be registered. Maybe they’ll dock our pay for the day,” said a worried-looking young woman.

  “Fuck ’em,” the man lying down replied.

  Alex pulled his cell phone out and checked it again. Still no signal.

  “I don’t think they can dock your pay for a fire drill. We’re going down to the lobby. We’ll tell them the five of you are here.” Blair had presumably counted heads. “There are a couple of men we passed earlier too. What floor are you from?”

  “Eighteen.”

  The crowd parted enough to let them squeeze through and Alex and Blair were on their way again.

  “Don’t you want to rest?” he asked her.

  “Actually I’m feeling fine so far. Likely if I stop and sit down, though, my muscles will lock and I’ll be stuck there, so it’s better to keep going. Besides, we’ve passed the ninth floor already so it’s not that far now. It’s more the idea of it than the actual walking,” said Blair.

  “I know we need to hold fire drills and people need to know what to do if there is an incident, but I’m wondering whether this is the right way to go about it. If that Bob does have a heart attack, that’s a mighty high price to pay.”

  “Yes but how else could you run a drill? The elevators will be unusable.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe have a health and safety officer in the stairwell every half-dozen flights to register people and they could stay in the stairwells,” she suggested.

  “The stairs aren’t all that clean. Not everyone would be prepared to sit on them.”

  Arguing companionably they completed their trek down to the lobby, only to find no one there.

  “What the fuck? If they think I’m walking to that fucking park, they’re fucking wrong!” Blair exploded.

  Alex laughed then handed her the stilettos. “Come on. What’s another block or two?”

  “Fucking hell,” she mumbled, carefully dusting off the soles of her feet before putting her shoes on and heading to the door. “Someone better be prepared to pay for a trip to the masseur after this. I’m not going to be able to move a muscle for a week!”

  * * * * *

  Alex was truly enjoying Blair’s company. Despite her swearing and her ridiculously high stilettos she had conquered twenty-four flights of stairs and set a brisk pace during the few blocks walk to City Park. The people from their building were easy to recognize. Many of them were lying flat on the grass, others were sitting on the ground, massaging their feet, and still others were leaning against the trees resting. Half a dozen energetic young men were playing a game of catch with a soda can.

  Ignoring the soft soil’s potential effect on her shoes, Blair marched straight up to a woman with a clipboard. Instead of getting their names registered, she demanded paramedics be sent for Bob. Alex was impressed with her care for the older man and felt a deep surge of guilt that he’d forgotten to check for a cell phone signal when they’d reached the lobby.

  Alex found his name and watched the woman place a check mark beside it and one next to Blair’s name. Then they told the woman about the people they’d met on the way down the stairs.

  “There are a lot of names not marked off,” he said.

  The woman sighed. “My personal bet is they’re still in their offices ignoring the fire drill. The elevators were switched off when the announcement was made so no one could have left unless they took the stairwell. But people on deadline or not wanting to deal with the stairs likely waited until the safety officers walked through their floor then sat right back down at their desks.”

  “But what about Bob?” asked Blair.

  “Sorry, yes, people were sent to check the stairwell before you arrived. He’s likely being attended to now.” Assuming an official tone, she said, “Please wait here on the grass. Everyone will be bused back to the office when the formalities are complete.”

  “Thank God. My poor feet.”

  “I’m glad Bob’s being cared for,” said Alex, feeling some of the guilt leave him.

  The woman looked at Blair’s shoes and grinned. “Me too. From now on I’m keeping gym shoes under my desk for days like this. Too bad about the rules. I can change on the staircase.”

  Alex took Blair’s elbow and led her over to a patch of unoccupied grass but a voice called, “Hey, Blair, over here.”

  “Kurt!” She moved off in a different direction, taking Alex with her. “Isn’t he yummy?” she whispered.

  She was tugging on his hand and so must have wanted him to come too, but she was saying another man was yummy. Does that mean I’m not yummy? She’s sure yummy. I wouldn’t mind some horizontal mambo with her!

  Alex followed her willingly, eager to see this yummy Kurt. A wiry but muscular man was sitting cross-legged on the ground, his cell phone in his hands but his gaze on Blair.

  “What took you so long
?” Kurt asked.

  Carefully Blair stepped out of her stilettos then sank onto the grass beside him. She waved a hand at Alex, saying, “Alex. Kurt. Shoes.”

  Dropping down beside her, Alex laughed. He reached over and shook Kurt’s hand. “I’m Alex, not shoes.”

  “Oh God, my feet,” groaned Blair, ignoring them both.

  “I’m glad you finally made it. I’m bored with playing the few pathetic games on my phone. Remind me to download something better before the next fire drill.”

  “Remind me to take a day’s vacation if it ever happens again,” said Blair tartly, massaging her toes. “Hell, that hurts.”

  Alex reached for her foot. “Let me. May I? Do you mind? I’m sure I can help.”

  “Please do. I’m not sure what rules apply to fire drills but I think fixing my feet right now ranks right up there with life-saving.”

  Her skin was warm and soft under his hands. Gently he massaged the ball of her foot, rubbing circles and pressing into the pads, loosening up any tightness there. He separated each toe, stroking its length, rubbing it between his fingers and again massaging the pad of the toe. She had such sexy feet. Long, straight toes, narrow ankles, high arches.

  While he tended to her feet the three of them talked. On the surface what they were saying was light, casual, just people sitting on the grass in the park waiting for the bus back to work. But underneath the conversation ran something much deeper, stronger. Lust and passion were in each look, each pair of eyes. Words used had double meanings, or the gestures that accompanied them gave them an underlying sexual connotation. Oh yes. What was going on was more than chatting, it was very definitely foreplay. Foreplay of a very carnal, erotic kind.

  “If this weren’t a public park, I could suck your toes, pulling them into my mouth, making them warm and wet. You’d soon feel much better,” he said, his voice barely heard over the noise of the park.

  “Damn, that sounds good,” she whispered.